With Lake Roosevelt sturgeon season set to open next week, WDFW is again advising anglers of an annual state-tribal survey of young diamondsides coming up in late September and early October.
“Because this survey overlaps with sturgeon season and covers areas anglers use, we want people to know where we’ll be working,” said Chris Donley, Region 1 Fish Program manager, in a press release out today. “A quick look at the schedule can help anglers plan their trips and avoid interruptions.”
The setline survey, performed with the Colville and Spokane Tribes’ fishery biologists, will occur over two weeks and gradually move upstream from the narrows below the mouth of the Colville River to the Little Dalles downstream of Northport.
Biologists aim to catch sturgeon up to 4 years old out of this part of Roosevelt to learn more about the growth and survival of juvenile fish.
While there may still be some grumbling about why WDFW couldn’t do its fishing before the September 16 season opener, Bill Baker, the area fisheries biologist, says the timing is due to water temperatures and to collect data that’s comparable to past surveys this time of year.
“We gave anglers the same heads up last year, and it seemed to go a long way toward alleviating conflicts,” he said.
This year’s schedule looks like this:
Week of Sept. 29
- Mon-Tue: Rickey Point to Colville River
- Tue-Wed: Colville River to Highway 395 bridge
- Wed-Fri: Singers Bay to Pingston Creek/Nancy Creek
Week of Oct. 6
- Mon-Tue: Pingston Creek/Nancy Creek to Marcus Island
- Tue-Wed: Marcus Island to Evans
- Wed-Thu: Evans to North Gorge
- Thu-Fri: North Gorge to Little Dalles
WDFW asks anglers to avoid it and the tribes’ setline buoys and says it will also make an effort “to be considerate of other boaters and anglers. The work will not have any impact on boat launches or shoreline access.”
The comanagers will also be using small hooks so as to not target the harvestable, 55- to 63-inch fork-length sturgeon anglers hope to catch during the season that is scheduled to run through November 30. Daily limit is one, and you can retain two per year.
They say their gear also doesn’t result in bycatch of other species.
Previously, the Lake Roosevelt sturgeon fishery opened in early summer, but it was shifted to early fall “to take advantage of cooler water temperatures which reduce stress on wild adult sturgeon caught by anglers” as part of a shift that also included tweaking keeper sizes to protect a weak year-class coming of size.
